Overthinking It
by Alidiabin
Summary: Gibbs thinks Ziva is over thinking her relationship with Ray. Part I tag for 8x20, Part II tag for 8x24.
1. Part I

**Title: **Overthinking It**  
>Fandom: <strong>NCIS**  
>Author: <strong>Alidiabin**  
>Words: <strong>595**  
>Disclaimer: <strong>I own nothing**  
>Warnings Spoilers: ** 8x20, 8x24. **  
>Parings:<strong> Ziva/Ray hints of Gibbs/Shannon  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Gibbs thinks Ziva is overthinking her relationship with Ray. Part I tag for 8x20, Part II tag for 8x24.

_**Overthinking It**_

_**Part I **___

Gibbs walked into the elevator with a cup of coffee in his hands, it was nearly empty and Gibbs had hoped to savour the last of it before getting some more. Then Ziva rushed into the elevator. She looked flustered. Gibbs let a tiny wave of concern rush over him.

"Ziver," he said.

"Gibbs," she replied as she pulled the emergency switch. Gibbs looked at her with both suspicion and concern.

She had come to talk. Gibbs had no idea, what she had come to talk about.

"What?" she took a deep breath, she was in an unfamiliar territory, and she had never asked Eli about his opinions on her sexual partners and Ray was much more than that, he was her boyfriend as juvenile as that sounded it made him different from Michael and all the others before him. Ziva and Eli's relationship had not been one of closeness, Eli did not care whom Ziva was sleeping with as long as she protected herself. Gibbs on the other hand would care; he would not want to see her hurt like she was with Michael. "What do you think of Ray?"

Gibbs stopped. He had not spent enough time with Ray to form an opinion beyond a gut feeling. His gut was uneasy. The man obviously had no intention of hurting Ziva, but he also had something else going on. There was no way Gibbs could fully trust the man. An agenda something Gibbs couldn't quite but his finger on. Gibbs, had tried to write off his gut as being concerned for someone who had become like a daughter too him, he had tried to think that it was because he knew some of what Ziva had gone through in Somalia.

"He makes you happy, that's good," Gibbs finally said. He did not want to tell her about his gut because it was not a solid feeling, and she had been through enough though if Ray did hurt her, he would be the first to make him pay. Gibbs did not query why Ziva had asked him, he knew she was looking for approval. Being in a serious honest relationship was new for her and she needed to know she was doing it right.

Ziva remained silent. She fiddled with her earlobe, a recent habit she had acquired in times of stress. That was not the answer she was looking for; she was hoping he would say something along the lines of he's good go for it. She was hoping for words along those lines, so that she could stop the doubts that kept popping up in her head. Doubts about her and Ray. Doubts about the longevity of their relationship. They had been fine for those two perfect weeks in Miami, had a great time that Christmas, and a lovely time during that long weekend only three weeks after their private Christmas celebration, but now Ray had met the team. It was all getting so real. So serious. Yet, Ziva still was not one hundred per cent sure she could trust Ray. Her _ninja senses_ as Tony called them were tingling.

Her phone vibrated. It was a text from Ray.

_I'm back_.

Ziva closed the message without sending a reply. She pulled the emergency switch. Gibbs caught her hand, not in a scolding way, but as a way of affection. He rubbed it, which seemed to sooth her.

"Stop overthinking it," he told her. "Just be happy." Ziva nodded and smiled. _Stop overthinking it_, she told herself as the elevator reached its intended destination.

**A/N**: Reviews … I really love them. Part II will be up later.


	2. Part II

**Title: **Overthinking It**  
>Fandom: <strong>NCIS**  
>Author: <strong>Alidiabin**  
>Words: <strong>595**  
>Disclaimer: <strong>I own nothing**  
>Warnings Spoilers: ** 8x20, 8x24. **  
>Parings:<strong> Ziva/Ray hints of Gibbs/Shannon  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Gibbs thinks Ziva is overthinking her relationship with Ray. Part I tag for 8x20, Part II tag for 8x24.

_**Overthinking It**_

_**Part II**_

Gibbs found her in the break room after Mike Franks' funeral. He had understood why she had not gone, it was too much. Though her and Mike had not been close, his death appeared to be the straw that broke the camel's back, she could not handle it. Grief had come back with a vengeance and sent angry debt collectors after her, forcing her to grieve for everyone she had lost. The tear streaks he had seen a couple of days before were not just for Mike, but for everyone else she had lost: siblings, lovers and friends. Grief had built up, and then the volcano had blown spewing emotional lava.

She was sitting in a chair looking out the window and fiddling with a small velvet box. The box was ring size, which meant Ray had either given her earrings or a ring. Ziva was not the type for excessive jewellery; she had only one necklace and a few pairs of earrings. A ring seemed more plausible and having been married four times Gibbs knew what kind of ring should be in the box. As much as he voiced his dislike of marriage, he wanted her to be happy. A small part of him knew that if Shannon and Kelly had not died; he and Shannon would still be married and wanting only the best for Kelly.

Gibbs only wanted Ziva to be happy. He knew she wanted the American dream, she wanted to have the life she never imagined having in Mossad, and she wanted to live until she was old, not wait for death. If she had a husband and kids it would be bonus, but if she did not it would not be a tragedy. She wanted to be happy and Gibbs wanted that for her.

He sat next to her, startling her. She turned to face him and put the ring box on the table.

"When's the big day?" Gibbs asked, Ziva looked up at him with a confused look on his face, one had seen many times in her first year in America, when she did not understand the culture or the slang.

"Big day?" she asked biting her lip.

"Wedding," Gibbs replied. Ziva's mouth formed an 'o' while her eyes were swept under a wave of sadness. She opened the box revealing it to be empty but indeed a ring box. She also held up both hands. Both were empty. No ring.

"Ray did not propose," Ziva reported with a blank expression, "he said the box means when he comes back we will talk. It is a promise."

It took every inch of Gibbs self-control not to say _empty box, empty promise. _He did not ask where Ray had gone probably because Ziva herself did not know. Gibbs nodded.

Ziva was not even sure if she wanted to see Ray when he got back. She was not really sure of anything anymore. Everything with Ray had gotten weird, they had gone from happily together, to broken up over her trust issues, to him almost proposing, while she was not sure if she still wanted to be with him. She had aimed for perfect with him, and the perfection had never come. She had wanted what everyone else seemed to have a happy relationship. Surely she deserved it.

Gibbs closed the box.

"Stop overthinking it," he told her as he got up, his team were taking the rest of the day off for Mike's wake, he needed to get home.

Ziva nodded. _Stop overthinking it _she repeated to herself.


End file.
